


The Plural of Anecdote

by knitmeapony



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M, marvel throwdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 16:05:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/725198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knitmeapony/pseuds/knitmeapony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Marvel Throwdown on Tumblr.  Betty and Bruce have a lazy morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Plural of Anecdote

She'd been almost-awake for an hour, watching the sky get lighter and the rain fall harder with every passing minute. New York was going to be a wreck today, and she had a brief flash of sympathy for anyone who'd be going outside.

She breathed out, a long, slow sigh, and felt Bruce move next to her, curling close against her back. She thought he was still asleep until she felt him bite the back of her shoulder gently.

"If you leave a hickey," she said,with a lazy, self-indulgent stretch against him, "you're in trouble."

"I know." His arms tightened around her and he pressed one last kiss to the nape of her neck before letting go. "If your father saw it, he'd probably kill me."

Her shoulders tightened a little even though she could feel him laughing silently. "That's not funny," she said, turning her head so she could give him as stern look to go with her gentle elbow to the ribs. That rueful little smile of his, though -- it only took a minute before she felt herself smiling back.

"It's a little funny," he said, and she sighed and couldn't help but laugh.

"You're terrible."

"I know. I'm a terrible human being." 

She rolled over so she could reach up to him and run her fingers through his hair. "That's progress," she said, with a genuine smile. He lifted his eyebrows in question. "You called yourself a human being."

His smile turned a little sad, and oh god, now she'd done it. Her hand rested on the back of his neck as he buried his face in her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, and he shook his head.

"Don't ever apologize for him."

"As long as you don't."

He sighed and rolled away from her, resting on his side and propping his head on his arm.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea." He fidgeted with the sheet self-consciously and she shifted to mirror his posture.

"Maybe it is." He gave her a skeptical look and she reached out to run a hand down his shoulder, pulling back slowly when he flinched, just a little. 

"Sorry." He gave her a regretful little smile and caught her hand in his.

"No apologizing for him. Or anything him-related," she said firmly. He kissed her knuckles -- another apology, but she'd let this one go -- and she sighed. "Look, Bruce, you're a better scientist than this. No drawing conclusions for untested hypotheses, right? And this was our first real date in a long time."

"A date is an anecdote," he protested, but the tension in his shoulders was easing a little. 

"And?"

"And the plural of anecdote is not data."

She grinned at that and leaned in conspiratorially. "Except when it is," she said, pressing her forehead to his for a minute. "I don't think we're getting peer-reviewed anyway. We can cut a few corners."

"So you're saying I'm getting a second date?" He smiled a little crookedly, and for once the hesitation had nothing to do with his other half and everything to do with the old Bruce, the one with high-school-bruised self esteem and terrible taste in blazers. 

"I'm saying you're getting a second date." She squeezed his hand and shifted closer, letting him pull the blanket up around both of them. "Good science is repeatable, after all."

"If we're calling this an experiment, we should be keeping a notebook." Her eyebrows went up and he leaned in for a kiss. "The only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down."

She pulled back just a split second before he kissed her. "....did you just quote Tony Stark?"

He chuckled. "No. Adam Savage."

"Oh good." This time when he moved in for a kiss, she let him catch her.

His lips were warm and soft but his hands, god, his hands. They were covered in scars and calluses and the rough scrape of his fingertips on her thigh was a welcome sensation. She grinned into the kiss and moved closer, running her knuckles along the unexpected planes and curves of his back. He'd changed so much while he was in India. It was always surprising.

The kiss, though, the kiss hadn't changed at all. He was Bruce -- her Bruce -- and he was really home. He rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him without breaking contact for a second and she settled in comfortably, elbows on either side of his head.

"I think you're developing a thing, Bruce."

"A thing?"

"A thing for..." Her phone rang and she huffed a sigh and squinted at it.. The area code was familiar, even if the number wasn't. Arizona? Who did she know in Arizona? "Nnng, hell. One second."

Bruce threaded his fingers behind his head comfortably and watched her talk. "Oh, hey Jane." He tilted his head a little curiously and she pulled the phone away from her ear. "Jane Foster. We were roommates at...." Jane's voice caught her attention again and she put the phone back to her ear. 

"What time is it there? No, no, that's fine, I was awake. Because it was date night."

Bruce grinned up at her and she couldn't help but smile back. She propped the phone between her shoulder and ear and reached down to run her hands along his shoulders and trace soft patterns through his chest hair. "Jane, slow down. You know physics isn't my specialty." Bruce lifted his eyebrows in question. Can I help? 

"Hey, Jane, you know Bruce Banner, right?" She laughed at the pause. "Yeah, that one. He happens to be here, can I put you on speaker? No, I swear, it's no trouble." She rested a hand on Bruce's stomach. "Yeah. Later is fine too. Maybe after breakfast? I think date night officially ends when the sun rises, even if nobody goes home. Call me then."

She pointedly turned off her phone before chucking it in the general direction of her purse and collapsing beside him. "Well, apparently our second date is coffee and a conference call tomorrow morning. That work for you?"

"If you're sure," he said wryly. "That works for me."


End file.
